Like most style bloggers, I use blogging solely as a creative outlet. I have a completely unrelated job and don’t ever anticipate making any substantial amount of money from blogging. That said, if there are ways to make a few extra bucks in the month, I’m all in (it can pay for 0.025% of my $250,000 school loan… ouch, that hurts to write).

I’ve been using Rewardstyle and Shopstyle for a while now. I initially started out using only Shopstyle links about 6 months ago and signed up for Rewardstyle about 3 months ago. There are good and bad things about each of these. First I’ll talk about Rewardstyle.

Rewardstyle Basics

Rewardstyle pays you for the sales you make. After you make a sale, a few things have to happen before you get paid:

Any sale commission goes into an “open commission” category for the next 90-ish days

That commission gets subtracted if the item is returned

After 90 days or so, the commission goes into a new category called “closed commission”

Once your “closed commission” totals at least $100, you will get paid at the next payout date (monthly, I believe)

Above is the February analysis from my Rewardstyle account. If you look at the graph, you can see that the blue line signifies the daily clicks, whereas the red line (yeah, that one that is usually right along the x-axis, aka 0) signifies sales. By analyzing my sold items, I can make the following conclusions:

Rewardstyle links will likely be more profitable during the biggest months of holiday shopping (October-December). Buyers looking for holiday gifts are are much more likely to make purchases at these times vs. clicking on links “just to look.” Also, big retailers are running tons of sales themselves, so you don’t have to do too much to help convince people to make purchases. And if you’re only suggesting products that you actually recommend, people are much more likely to not make returns, meaning you keep the commission.

If your blog has sidebar space, you can make pretty customized widgets for gift ideas, recent purchases, wishlist items, etc. This is especially helpful during holiday times as well. Its a good idea to start out with a items in a few different price ranges and see what sells best for you.

If you title a post “…Review…blah blah blah…” it’s probably more profitable to use Rewardstyle links for it. That post will likely generate increased views from Google searches, as well as your regular reader base. That means that people clicking on that post are more likely to be in the market for said product. Even if you think that your review is negative, a “negative” to you might be a “positive” in the eyes of the reader.

Shopstyle Basics

Shopstyle is a great alternative to Rewardstyle, and in many cases, it may be more profitable. Shopstyle pays on a per click basis. Nobody knows how much any click is going to generate. The nice thing is that any money you make is yours and will never get subtracted from your account. All you have to do is reach $100 to get paid (monthly payouts, I believe).

I haven’t been using Shopstyle much recently, and the commission graph above is pretty low. The difficult thing about Shopstyle is that you don’t know what is being clicked on, so there is no good way to tailor your links. But here are my general thoughts on when to use this affiliate:

Below many bloggers outfit pictures is a short list of what they’re wearing and/or similar products. This is a great place to use Shopstyle links. Many times readers are curious about item prices and just want to “click to see.” Our readers are really smart and will (usually) shop around vs. buying that item then and there. Its nice to at least get a few cents from that click, if possible.

If a retailer is having a sale and there are items that you’re dying to share/ recommend, Shopstyle is probably the way to go, unless its a holiday season (for the same reason as above).

High-price item reviews will usually generate more profit with a pay-per-click link. People are obviously less likely to buy this item because of the price, but are willing to “check it out.” Sometimes just looking at pretty items can be amusing! I’m guilty of this myself.

Hopefully this post is helpful for you!! I’m trying these tips myself and will update at the end of March 🙂

47 thoughts on “Shopstyle vs. Rewardstyle Affiliate Links”

This is really cool and helpful, thank you! I’m very wary of taking on multiple advertisers or affiliate links. On one hand, why not make some cash? On the other, I never want to be seen as blogging just to make money.

Thank you for this post! I am not a blogger but I really appreciate your transparency. A blog takes a lot of effort and you deserve to get compensated in one way or form. I understand that there may be a negative connotation associated with affiliate links in the fashion blogging world — some readers feel taken advantage of. By being transparent, you give your readers a better understanding of your blog decisions and what you hope to get out of your blog, and I appreciate that!

thank you so much for commenting! I feel the same way about links when I’m reading other people’s blogs. I have to tell myself I’m being silly and that if I want to look at the item I should just click on the darn link! I try to keep my blog clean, so hopefully I dont irritate too many people with the links!

I agree with Fanny. I think it’s great that you are being so transparent with being a blogger. I knew there is some sort of commission-based structure in posting/referring to items but I didn’t know the specifics. This is helpful. Now that I know, I will certainly click on the links when I can. After all, if I do end up purchasing an item that I see on a blog, it’s thanks to the blogger who posted it up in the first place. I am completely okay with helping the earnings their way (however small it is). At the same time, I now also have a better understanding of why there are some bloggers who are so competitive in posting outfits and why sometimes people get into a twist because of seeing other bloggers posting something similar. 🙂

I didn’t even realize that there was that much competition! I just kinda keep to myself, I guess. I’m glad that this was helpful instead of irritating for you. I dont want people to think I’m blogging to make money off of them. I just am too poor to forgo a few dollars here and there!

It’s interesting to see how people evaluate the different affiliate programs. I only use shopstyle because I feel my readers are most window shoppers instead of actual purchasers. I’ve been making around $10 a day which does add up over time! I’m hoping that once I start med school this fall I can use it to buy my groceries or something haha

oh, and I forgot to say that if you are interested in seeing what people click on, make them a bitly link – that way you can see what people click on! I’ve learned what people tend to gravitate towards like (like if I talk about an item it’ll get a lot more clicks than if I just put it in my outfit run down)

I am still trying to figure out the pros, cons and transparency difference between Amazon Affiliates, ShareASale, ShopSense and RewardStyle. So much thinking! What are your thoughts on having several affiliate programs running simultaneously?

This is a great post! I especially liked the tip about not displaying the prices when using Shopstyle, to increase clicks! I think I will start doing that with my future posts. I am a new blogger and just started using Shopstyle and I like it so far. I’d like to use Rewardstyle, but you need an “invitation” or have to apply for one, and unfortunately haven’t had any luck yet with getting an invite and I don’t think I will get approved at this early stage. For now I guess Shopystyle will do… Anyways, thanks for the information! 🙂

Thanks so much for this! This is so helpful because I’m just starting a new blog (littlebrietta.blogspot.com) and wanted to learn more about this. I’m really glad I stumbled upon your blog since you’re all about petite style too – I’m hoping to contribute to the petite community too. Any advice you may have for me would be be very much appreciated. 🙂

Such an interesting read! I’ve been trying to figure out the difference between these two commission programs but could never figure it out. Shopstyle sounds pretty good, as it’s possible to make money from just clicks too!

This is a really great post! I just signed up for Shopstyle the other day, and it’s the first time I’ve tried to generate any sort of income from blogging. I don’t know where I’ll use it besides the links to what I’m wearing, but I’m sure I’ll figure out what works for me. My issue is that I hate coming off like an add….so it’s a matter of balance.

Wow, so much useful tips,
thank you! I actually found another affiliate program for fashion bloggers: picvpic.com
partnership program http://picvpic.com/partnership/overview
. They’re said to promise full commission on sales and from what I heard it
really is so, no hidden fees or anything. Can you do a review on them or a
comparison on them and other popular options? Thanks again for the article!

I’m just starting out as a fashion blogger and researched a lot about affiliate programs that pay the most. The best one I found seems to be picvpic partnership program: http://picvpic.com/partnership/overview . They offer you 100% full commission on sales, no hidden costs or fees. Just wanted to share this to anyone trying to find a good way to monetize their fashion blog. By the way, thank you for the article, really helpful!

Thank you for this article, really helpful for amateur bloggers like me! I did some research on the highest paying affiliate programs and the best one I found so far seems to be the one offered by picvpic.com -http://picvpic.com/partnership/overview They’re said to give you 100% commission on all purchases. Maybe you can do a comparative review on them and other programs? Again, thanks for the information!

Hi Amber, do you mind telling more about less well-known affiliate programs? r-Style and Shop- style didn’t work well for me, so I was in search for other more suitable options. One of the users commented about picVpic, I checked it out, seems like a really nice partnership! However, I am new in the industry, and might not notice hidden pitfalls. Here’s the video for your convenience:

I love it! THANK YOU FOR BREAKING THIS DOWN TO ME in everyday vernacular. I was reading the Dallas Business Journal and came across RewardStyle’s CEO’s and it never really clicked to me until now. I am in the very early stages, grass roots, of starting my own blog. This is good motivation and a good place to get the info I was looking for.

Hi Amber, I’m an interior designer and just signed up for style sense / shop sense. I guess they couldn’t make up their mind? not very good branding, IMO, but whatevs… Bloody brilliant otherwise! I have absolutely no qualm whatsoever about this. In fact, I think that my readers are going to love the little curated shopping site I’ve created. Most people honestly have no idea what to do. Putting together collections gives them a real leg up. And even if they don’t buy anything, they are being educated, refining their own unique style and I’m making $. kaching! 🙂 in just 14 hours, I’ve already made $1.10 and I’ve only just dunk my big toe in! As they say… people don’t like to be sold, but they do love to shop! And what woman doesn’t like to go window shopping? win/win! Thanks for the great report! ~ Laurel

I appreciate your taking the time to explain the pros and cons of both affiliate programs!
I just started using shopstyle…you gave a GREAT tip about removing prices from your display.
How do I do that?

Very helpful tips and insights, Amber! Thank you for sharing! I’m a new blogger and currently on ShareASale, CJ and LinkShare. Tried applying for RStyle but got rejected. ;( I’ve found it’s been pain in the butt to create links when writing the post. I hate spending so much time on finding the links. I’ve never used RStyle, so I have no idea what it looks like. As for Shop Style, I’d love to give it a try and see how it goes. Will report back later!

Thanks for the transparency, Amber! was just curious how long it took you and what exactly did you do to get accepted into the StyleRewards affiliate program. I am just starting out blogging and wasn’t accepted, but they didn’t really tell me why. Thanks!

Thanks so much for this post! I’ve just recently started trying to monetize my blog and I’m really struggling with all the different options that are out there. I just installed a Shopstyle widget and am looking forward to seeing how it goes. Fingers crossed!

Omg this was EXTREMELY helpful! Thank you so much! I am a brand new blogger and just figuring all of this out. I’ve been enjoying the writing and styling, but the business stuff is all new for me. However, I do want to learn to monetize because I’m a 25-year-old model and want to continue working in fashion even after I’m too old to model. I am hoping my blog turns out to be my career in a few years. But in the meantime I’m having a ton of fun!